Janjri Desai, Pharm.D., on pharmacy’s seat at the table and sponsorship | HSES 2026

Pharmacy is still underused in enterprise-level decision-making as a strategic and clinical service line, according to Janjri Desai, Pharm.D., MBA, DPLA, vice president of pharmacy services at Stanford Health Care. Desai spoke with Managed Healthcare Executive at the 2026 Health System Executive Summit.

Because of 340B, pharmacy has historically been viewed “very much as a financial workhorse,” Desai said. “It put us on the map, but I think now the opportunity that really lies ahead is for us to be viewed as any other clinical service line.” Pharmacy teams still often have to prove their outcomes, she said, and the goal is to shift the narrative so that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are seen as integral members of the care team.

The practical fix is being at the table with chief medical officers and other executive leaders as organizations plan for growth, Desai said, particularly as many healthcare professions see declining enrollment. That way, pharmacists and technicians can be built directly into care models “so that we’re not constantly having to justify why we should be part of the care team.”

Desai also discussed developing the next generation of pharmacy leaders. Moving from informal mentorship to real sponsorship, she said, means shifting from a consultative approach to intentional advocacy: talking with promising team members about their career goals, sharing the potential she sees in them and building what she called a strategic development plan. That includes stretch opportunities beyond their current role, more visibility in the organization, recommending them when opportunities arise and setting milestones along the way, since the process “doesn’t happen overnight.”

Growing talent means looking at where team members are today and where they want to be, she said, rather than hiring someone and expecting them to stay in that role. For team members who don’t advocate for themselves, she assigns work the organization needs.

When Stanford Health Care was looking for cost savings, Desai asked pharmacy technicians to lead an initiative capturing the costs they avoid in day-to-day dispensing, such as preventing missing medications and redispensing, and to quantify that impact. The technicians became more engaged and empowered, she said, and ideally feel “valued rather than just another hire in the organization.”

In this video, Desai discusses how pharmacy can earn a strategic seat at the table and how leaders can sponsor emerging talent.